The Nebraska Rural Response Council, sponsor of the Rural Response Hotline, announced that their new website is up and running at farmhotline.com.
The Rural Response Hotline has been strengthening rural communities in Nebraska since 1984 providing valuable information and resources in times of crisis. Rural Response Council Chairman Vern Jantzen of Plymouth said, “In addition to our 800-464-0258 hotline telephone number, farm, ranch, and rural residents now also have access to the website to obtain resources. We thank the Nebraska Department of Agriculture for their assistance in establishing this new website.”
Creation of the website was supported by a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant awarded to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture to support and expand behavioral health services to farm, ranch, and rural residents. The Counseling Outreach and Mental Health Therapy project that provides free counseling vouchers for farmers, ranchers, and rural residents in times of crisis is one of many services offered through the farm hotline.
Michelle Soll, administrator for Legal Aid of Nebraska’s Farm and Ranch Project that staffs the hotline said, “Of course, we will still be answering the Hotline phone and providing that personal touch. We are excited that there is now an additional on-line option.” Jantzen concluded, “There is a wealth of useful information on the new website. We are asking all our organizational partners to link to our new website from their website, as well as to help spread the news.”
The farm hotline is supported through grants, and by private, industry and charitable donations.